Emergencies

Saskatchewan what to do

1. In Regina, the city and WCA put up signs with the name of the chemical in the areas sprayed, but you often have to get in the sprayed area to read them. The Weed Man apparently no longer does ( 2014). The signs are usually only up for the day of spraying. Take photos of the sign as well as trucks or other signs of spraying.

2. Go home, strip and wash off with a soapy paper towel. Throw it away. Then have a bath and soap up again. Shampoo your hair. Get into clean clothes and launder the contaminated clothes separately,(or wrap them in new double plastic bag and put them in the freezer if you intend to have them tested for contamination.)

3. Check with whoever sprayed to get the name of the product and active ingredient(s) you may have been exposed to, the time of spraying, and MSDS sheet. The full label will also tell you who the manufacturer is, and list the acute health effects linked to the product as well as safety precautions. Note specifically date and time, and which location you felt sick in. (Schedules often depend on weather). Be aware that MSDS sheets are developed by industry and are NOT a complete listing of the ingredients of a product, but only the ones having to be reported by law. More info onMSDS. Be aware that in Canada, many pesticides still do not have an MSDS sheet because they are regulated by the PMRA and not the department of Labour, who are responsible for MSDS sheet.

Remember that you may be sick for a period of 2 weeks after spraying was done.

4. Seek medical attention if needed (in clean clothes). Make sure you tell your MD that you suspect pesticides, and which pesticide in particular (from the information you obtained earlier). He/she can phone the Saskatchewan Poison Center who may help in obtaining the full list of ingredients (which they will not be allowed to share with anyone including you, but will help them in treating you).

5. Report the incident with the pesticide to the PMRA on theAdverse Reporting form. You may also report it to the pesticide manufacturer as they are the only ones who have to report adverse effects to the government. Medical doctors DO NOT have to report any pesticide poisoning so it is up to you.

Unless adverse effects are reported to the PMRA, they will never been taken into consideration when re-evaluating the particular pesticide.

More details and ideas below

What To Do In A Pesticide Emergency (Prevention and what to do after. Beyond Pesticides, USA) Be aware that, In Saskatchewan, I know of no lawyer who will take a pesticide case and there is only one case won in Canada on the basis of health damage. Any case of damages won have been for the price of an animal lost of price of contaminated hay bales. Too small to be worth going to court for, and ver discouraging. However, if you are an organic farmer and lose your certification because of contamination from drift, that would be worth going to court.

Problems Pesticides Manitoba Overspraying people and properties not wanting to be sprayed should not be legal and should be considered misuse. However, it often fall through the cracks between Transport Canada, the provincial aerial sprayers associations, the PMRA and provincial pesticide agencies. This link still gives general and Manitoba-specific information and help on how to register complaints and concerns when oversprayed by agricultural pesticides. This group IS NO LONGER ACTIVE.